Nutella Quesadillas

Too easy to even warrant a recipe, these are such a lovely treat in the morning!

Schmear just a light layer of cream cheese over the entire tortilla, to cut the sweetness. Half jam of choice (I used raspberry in one, fig in the other), half Nutella. Fold. Grill 'til golden and gooey.

That's it! Breakfast, dessert, snack, "just 'cause" ... whatever the occasion, just try them ... :)

Bacon-Filled Cinnamon Rolls + Giveaway Winner

First things first: I was giving away a $75 Whole Foods gift card last week, and had lots of friends hoping they'd be chosen. But there could only be one ... oh, if only I were Santa and could generate bunches of 'em! But instead, I went to Random.org to generate a winner, and here are the results (with apologies for it not formatting properly, techno-dolt that I sometimes am, such that I simply had to type in the information):

True Random Number Generator
Min: 1
Max: 55
Result: 4
Powered by RANDOM.ORG

MAZAL TOV to Nikki K.!!! Put the card to good use and be sure to tell me about the fabulous dishes you cook with the goodies you buy!

Okay, now on to the food ... :)

My friend Beth frequently sends me recipe ideas, and they always seem to include bacon. Considering that we work together at a synagogue, this is fairly amusing to us! You hire shiksas, and look what happens ... oy!

So, Beth recently sent me an idea she'd found online in which a commercially-prepared refrigerated cinnamon roll dough is unrolled, a strip of bacon is laid over it, and the entire thing is wrapped up again into a spiral and baked into salty-sweet, pork-filled goodness. We drooled over our keyboards.

But as I thought about it, I thought the strip of bacon might not cook fully since it was buried in the dough; and as it cooked, to whatever degree of done-ness, it would ooze bacon fat and possibly make the cinnamon rolls soggy. So, I took the inspiration and I tweaked it a bit. I pre-cooked the bacon 'til crispy, rolled the crumbles into the dough, then baked away. The fragrance in the kitchen was astounding!

And so, for a Christmas breakfast, a weekend brunch, or "just 'cause," I give you Bacon-Filled Cinnamon Rolls - ridiculously easy to make and worth far more than their weight in gold. How can you not love a 2-ingredient recipe at this busy time, especially when it includes BACON???


Bacon-Filled Cinnamon Rolls

1 12.4-ounce can refrigerated cinnamon rolls
4 strips of bacon

Preheat the oven to 400F. Grease an 8"-round baking pan.

Open the can of dough and reserve the icing. Unroll the dough and lay it onto a countertop or cutting board.

Cook the bacon until crisp, then chop it into crumbles. Sprinkle the crumbles over the cinnamon roll dough, then roll each strip into a spiral and place it into the baking pan.

Bake for 15 minutes, until the cinnamon rolls are golden. Remove from the pan and let cool a bit, then drizzle with the reserved icing.

Makes 8 bacon-filled cinnamon rolls.

Frugal Floozie Friday - The Northside Grill

Jeremy and I enjoyed a great breakfast at The Northside Grill this week, thus making it today's Frugal Floozie Friday feature. Tremendously friendly service, a festive atmosphere, and great food made it a wonderful place to visit!

I debated many options, as always, from the classic dish of an egg with hash browns and a biscuit to an assortment of side dishes to splitting a sandwich. But I settled upon two items, for a bit of variety: fried eggs served "over easy" plus a warm bear claw proudly made in-house. Generously filled with walnuts and fragrant with cinnamon, the pastry was perfect with my vanilla-flavored coffee. It was a tremendous value at only $2.29.

The eggs - costing a mere $1.25 each, ordered a la carte - were perfectly cooked, and were a nice complement to the sweet treat.

Jeremy, as usual, was much more decisive than I was and readily settled upon the short stack of buttermilk pancakes for $4.39. This was an enormous serving that fully covered the plate, and I can't even imagine being able to finish a full portion! Tender and light, with just a hint of tartness in contrast to the syrup, Jeremy told me he can't remember the last time he enjoyed a plate of pancakes so much.

Another option, had we not been there for breakfast, would have been the Brownie Sundae "topped with ice cream, chocolate syrup, whipped cream, walnuts and a cherry. Enough for two!" At $5.75, this would readily have met our per person budgetary requirement.

From an assortment of side dishes to pastries, from muffins to soups and chilis, and even plate-sized single pancakes or servings of French toast, there are many frugal options to choose from at The Northside Grill. That you also get a warm welcome, free coffee refills, and the comfort of a neighborhood hang-out only makes the deals that much better.

The Northside Grill
1015 Broadway
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48105
734-995-0965
Open 7 days a week from 7 a.m. - 3 p.m.



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Frugal Floozie Friday at Angelo's

I recently asked Jeremy where he wanted to eat, on a morning when we were both free to go out for a late breakfast. I offered a couple of suggestions, but he immediately countered with "Angelo's." We hadn't been there in so, so long - what a fabulous choice!

We set off with our mandatory $5 per person budget in mind. And so, Angelo's is today's Frugal Floozie Friday feature.

This Ann Arbor institution is justly famous for its handmade raisin toast, which Jeremy knew he would order no matter what else he saw on the menu. At $2.50 for an order of two thick slices, this was a substantial and delicious treat. This is not a fluffy Wonder bread or a cinnamon-y sweet variety; and it's clearly not made in a box (otherwise known as "the sacrilege that is a bread machine"). It's real bread - the kind you'd make at home with your own two hands, if you had either the time or the inclination. (But since you likely have neither, you can also buy a loaf to take home.)

To supplement the toast, Jeremy also ordered two eggs, scrambled, for $2.30. This was an ideal portion, and together the two items came in at $4.80 for a simple, but really good, breakfast.

I debated whether to get the $4 oatmeal served with raisins, brown sugar, and cinnamon; one egg for $1.30 and an order of breakfast potatoes for $3; or one egg served with potatoes and toast, for an even $5.

But I decided to order the enormous, fluffy short stack of 2 plate-sized pancakes for $4.75. I sprinkled them with some of the cinnamon sugar served at each table, which was a perfect accompaniment to the dish.

At lunchtime, sandwiches are very generous and could easily be split by those who are inclined to do so. Lots of "extras" that fall within our mandatory budget - from regular and sweet potato fries to a scoop of chicken salad to chili cheese fries - can be ordered a la carte for prices ranging from $1.25 to $4.75. A bowl of soup is available for $3.75; and a $4.50 bowl of beef chili can be supplemented with cheese ($4.75) or both cheese and sour cream ($5). Another option is the house salad for $4.

The portions at Angelo's are huge, the service is friendly and efficient, the restaurant is bright and cozy, and the food is fabulous. What more could you ask for, especially at such reasonable prices?

Angelo's
1100 E. Catherine
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
734-761-8996
Monday - Saturday: 6 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Sunday: 7 a.m. - 2 p.m.



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Whole Grain Pancakes with Spiced Apple Syrup

I love to bake on Sunday mornings, or to make special breakfasts. It's often the only day I don't have to be up, out the door, doing something, accomplishing something. It a time when I can luxuriate, not just grab some salami slices to go with my coffee or rush around trying to get ready on time.

This past Sunday, I debated whether to bake a coffee cake or whether to make something that I could eat more quickly, since I woke up hungry. Needless to say from the photo, speed of preparation won! Pancakes just sounded good, and adding a lovely autumn touch with the apple syrup only made the meal more delicious.


Whole Grain Pancakes with Spiced Apple Syrup

Syrup:

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 large Honeycrisp apple, peeled, cored, cut into 1/3" dice
• pinch of cinnamon
• 2/3 cup maple syrup

Place the butter, water, apple, and cinnamon into a small saucepan; bring to a boil, then lower heat to medium-low. Cook 8-10 minutes, until most of the water has been absorbed. Add the syrup and turn heat to low; keep syrup warm while making pancakes.

Pancakes:

• 1 packet instant oatmeal, Maple & Brown Sugar Flavor
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3/4 cup half-and-half
• 1 egg
• squirt of lemon juice

In a medium bowl, combine oatmeal, flours, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Whisk together half-and-half, egg, and lemon juice; let rest for 1 minute, then pour over dry ingredients. Let batter rest 1 minute.

Brush a large skillet or griddle with butter, and turn heat to medium-high. Drop batter by the 1/4-cupful and cook until top is covered with small bubbles; carefully flip and cook 2-3 more minutes until done.

Serve pancakes with warm syrup.

Makes 8 pancakes.

Blueberry Bread Pudding

I got together with friends from Temple Beth Emeth's Sisterhood recently. I love spending time with this great group of women with whom I always have a good time!

The event was a potluck, and there was so much fabulous food!  Croissants, a cinnamon sugar-topped coffee cake, walnut spiral pastries, assorted fruits, a mushroom-cheese frittata casserole, a quinoa and vegetable salad, green salad, pasta salad, watermelon gazpacho, spinach lasagna, cucumber sour cream salad, lemon-glazed cake, and a 4-berry pie ... sigh ... :)

We'd been asked to contribute either breakfast or lunch dishes ... well, we all know where this is going, don't we? What to bring? Which meal? Sweet? Savory? Brain hurts ... ack!

But it turned out that the breakfast options were going to be a bit sparse, so I jumped onto that bandwagon. Whew! I'm always so much better when given direction, rather than being left to my own indecisive devices. (And, of course, there was plenty of food for each meal.  I've joked with friends before that Jewish women never feel there's enough, no matter how full the table is, so there's always way too much ... and everyone always enjoys the bounty!)

So, then I thought about some sort of easily transported casserole. Something that wouldn't be messy, something that was easy to serve, something that just needed to be baked and brought ... bread pudding, one of my very favorite dishes. And since it's blueberry season, what a perfect addition!

And so, croissants were transformed into a creamy, cinnamon-scented treat, with some gorgeous fresh fruit added in, too. Gotta love bread pudding!  And I'm very happy to say that the entire pudding was eaten, not even one serving left ....

Blueberry Bread Pudding

6 cups of cubed day-old croissants (1" cubes)
3/4 cup blueberries
3 large eggs
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
1/8 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups half-and-half
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 cup brown sugar

Preheat oven to 375F. Grease a 10" round baking dish.

Place the cubed croissants and the blueberries into the baking dish. Whisk together the eggs, confectioners' sugar, sugar, vanilla, and half-and-half; pour over the croissants, and let soak for 10 minutes, pressing down on the bread a bit to help it soak up the custard.  Sprinkle the top with the cinnamon and the brown sugar.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, until pudding is puffed (it will sink as it cools) and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Makes 12 servings, and is ideal with either ice cream or whipped cream.

Almondina Crunch Coffee Cake

I love getting packages in the mail, because they're usually food-related!

And one I received recently was no exception.  It contained a generous sampling - for marketing purposes - of Almondina cookies, which are similar to very thin biscotti.  They have only 30 calories per cookie, feature nutritious almonds, are both kosher and pareve ([PAHRv] = neither meat nor dairy), are made without cholesterol and preservatives, and are very adaptable.  I've eaten several of the sweet varieties (Gingerspice, Chocolate Cherry, Choconut) on their own, as desserts and snacks; and I've eaten a couple of the savory varieties (Brantreat, Sesame) with cheese and as croutons.

Over the weekend, I felt like baking; I heard a coffee cake calling to me ... a bit of comfort after several very stressful weeks.  Instead of the usual cinnamony streusel topping, though, I thought I'd add a bit of crunch instead.  So I crumbled some of the Almondina cookies, mixed them with just a touch of sugar and butter, and sprinkled them over the batter.  Oh, the house smelled so fabulous as this baked!

And the cake turned out beautifully, with lots of flavor from the addition of the crumbled Almondina cookies that contributed ginger and nuts to my coffee cake.  Such a simple pleasure!

Almondina Crunch Coffee Cake

Cake:
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1 egg
2/3 cup sugar
grated zest of 1 orange
1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1/3 cup apricot all-fruit spread

Topping:
6 Almondina Gingerspice cookies, crumbled
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/8 cup butter, melted

Glaze:
1/2 confectioners' sugar
1-2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease a 9" round baking pan.

In large bowl, stir together butter, sour cream and egg; add sugar, orange zest, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Stir in flours and spread into prepared baking pan.

Dollop the jam over the top of the batter, then swirl it in gently with a knife.

Combine the Almondina crumbs and brown sugar; stir in melted butter.  Sprinkle topping over the batter.

Bake coffee cake for 30 minutes, until golden and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.  Let cool completely.

Combine confectioners' sugar and orange juice; drizzle over the coffee cake.  (Add a bit more juice or a bit more sugar, as needed, to make it the right consistency.)  Let glaze set, then cut and serve.

Makes 12 servings.

Frugal Floozie Friday - Afternoon Delight Cafe

I don't often go out to lunch on a weekday.  So it was a great luxury to meet my friend Nancy recently at Afternoon Delight, when I took a few hours off for an abbreviated "girls' day out" to eat and then meander through a second-hand store hoping that something might call to us (but unfortunately hearing not even a whisper).  Good food and friendship all in one afternoon!

Today's Frugal Floozie Friday feature is one I've meant to go back to for some time, and it was Nancy's first visit to the cafe ... so many places to eat, so little time.  Afternoon Delight is an Ann Arbor institution serving great breakfasts and lunches, with an emphasis on fresh, healthy dishes and generous portions.

For a mere $3.25 - well within our mandatory budget of $5 per person or less - I ordered a cup of excellent beef chili.  (A bowl of the daily house-made soup offerings would have cost $4.25, still a good deal.)  I was offered a slice of bread or crackers to go with this, and the latter simply struck my fancy at that time for crumbling over the top.  The chili was thick and slightly spicy, a perfect antidote to the blustery weather outside that day.

I also ordered The Berry Patch, pictured above, which is frozen yogurt topped with an abundance of perfect, fresh fruits.  It costs only $4.50, and is a very large serving.  I was given a choice of vanilla or raspberry yogurts or - best of all - a swirl of both which, needless to say, I picked.  This was so rich and creamy, with gorgeous, sweet berries!  It was a great dessert, but would also make a wonderful breakfast or snack.

Nancy chose the small salad bar - one trip - which just barely exceeded our Frugal Floozie Friday budget at $5.49.  This gives you a choice of an abundance of beautiful greens, vegetables, dressings and prepared salads.

As we went through the cafeteria-style line to order and pay for our food, we noted the enormous brownies ($2.75) and muffins ($2.50).  There are other desserts, too - such as pies, cookies, and sundaes - ranging in price from $1.95-$4.25.  An assortment of coffee drinks is available for less than $3 each, and many breakfast options are offered from $1.50-4.95.  Afternoon Delight also serves a wide variety of sandwiches, which can be split to stay within the $5 budget per person.

Whether you're looking for a hearty breakfast, a light lunch or a quick snack, Afternoon Delight has something to tempt you ... and for not very much money!

Afternoon Delight Cafe
251 East Liberty 
Ann Arbor, MI 48104 
(734) 665-7513 
Monday - Saturday: 8 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Sunday: 8:30 a.m. - 3 p.m.



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Frugal Floozie Friday -- The Bomber

It's Frugal Floozie Friday, and today's feature offers the most gargantuan quantity of food yet for our measly budget of $5 per person! What you see in the photo is the infamous Bomber Breakfast, found only at the Bomber restaurant.

Jeremy recently had an early morning appointment, and his dad, Stuart, and I went along with him. Afterwards, we decided we could use some breakfast; and so we ended up at this Ypsilanti institution:

"The Bomber opened in 1936 as Baldwin's Diner. In the 1940s the name was changed to the Bomber, only to be discarded in favor of Bob's Barbecue in the mid-1970s. Finally in 1986, the name Bomber returned and the current owners John Sebestyen and Johanna McCoy purchased it in 1995".

The restaurant is noted for the historical artifacts linings its walls - everything from uniforms to posters to autographed photos to rifles - not to mention the 24 model airplanes which hang from the ceiling. It is also noted for friendly service, generous portions, and the kind of atmosphere that encourages eating, reading the paper, having just a little bit more coffee, chatting with other customers, and making oneself at home.

The signature dish - the Bomber Breakfast - is so enormous that it was once featured on the Food Network's "Top Five Overindulgences" show. There is enough food, truly, to feed a family of four: a pound of hash browns with cheese and onions, 2 full slices of toast, 4 eggs any style, and a choice of 6 sausage patties or 7 sausage links or 10 slices of bacon or 2 slices of ham. (Our waitress told us, upon seeing our eyes glaze over, that we could mix-'n'-match if we wanted to.)

So, how much does this platter full of food cost?

$9.95.

And since Stuart and I split it - though we couldn't finish it, despite valiant efforts! - it came in at under our mandatory $5 per person limit.

As though this wasn't enough indulgence, Jeremy ordered an obscenely rich and decadent breakfast for himself: Chocolate Hazelnut French Toast. A half order - 2 portions of thick bread filled with luscious Nutella, dipped in batter and drenched in syrup - costs only $4.95.

The Bomber also features weekday breakfast specials for $4.50, featuring everything from traditional pancakes and eggs and oatmeal to breakfast sandwiches. There are many items on the menu which could qualify for our Frugal Floozie Friday mission.

The Bomber is a great place to go for a hearty breakfast or lunch, and is easily a place where you could become a regular.

Bomber
306 East Michigan Ave.
Ypsilanti, Michigan
734-482-0550


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Fried Potatoes with Red Pepper and Blue Cheese

I woke up early one Saturday morning ... well, I always wake up early, that's not newsworthy! I'm a "late to bed, early to rise" kinda girl, a notoriously poor sleeper.

So first I made a cup of coffee, because that is always the #1 priority of the day. And then I set about figuring out what to eat for breakfast.

I'm not usually a fan of sweet things to start my day ... pancakes or cinnamon rolls sometimes call to me, but not often. I'm someone who also doesn't believe in traditional breakfast foods, such as oatmeal or toast. Give me leftovers of spaghetti and meatballs! I'll happily eat re-warmed Chinese food! It's hard to know what I'll be craving at 6:30 in the morning.

And so, recently I was tired (oh, so tired!) of eggs. I didn't want Cheerios. I'd already polished off any leftovers from the week.

But then I found half a baked potato ... and I had a red pepper ... and there was a bag of walnuts ... and a brand new container of Gorgonzola was staring back at me as I peered into the refrigerator.

And thus, an exceptionally fine meal of fried potatoes with lots of other goodies tossed in for protein, flavor and color was born!

Fried Potatoes with Red Pepper and Blue Cheese

1/2 tablespoon butter
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 large baked potato, cut into 1/2" dice
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup finely chopped red pepper
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
2 tablespoons crumbled Gorgonzola

Melt butter and oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the potato, onion and red pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add the salt, pepper and walnuts; cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 more minutes until the potatoes are golden and the vegetables are softening. Place the potatoes into a serving dish and top with the Gorgonzola.

Serves 1, but could easily be multiplied.

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

Blueberry muffins are a universal favorite! Who wouldn't want to celebrate them today, on National Blueberry Muffin Day?

Not only do these muffins showcase one of Michigan's finest fruits, but they're sweet and delicious and perfect at any time of day. Breakfast? A great way to start the morning! Lunch? They can certainly make a fabulous dessert. Tea time? Evening or midnight snack? Absolutely ideal!

This recipe makes a very tender muffin, loaded with gorgeous blueberries. And the cinnamon streusel makes a lovely, fragrant topping so that the muffins aren't quite so plain.

Just as National Strawberry Shortcake Day didn't need my promotional assistance, National Blueberry Muffin Day can hold its own, too, I think. So I'll stop blathering now, and just let you enjoy your muffin in peace ....

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

Muffins:
1/3 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1-1/2 cups unbleached flour
1-1/2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup half-and-half
3/4 cup blueberries

Streusel:
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup quick-cook oats
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 325F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.

Make the muffins: In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar; stir in egg. Mix in the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Stir in the cream, then gently mix in the blueberries. Divide the batter among the muffin cups.

Make the streusel: Combine the flour, brown sugar, oats and cinnamon. Stir in the butter. Divide the mixture among the muffins by placing a blob of it on top of each.

Bake for 30 minutes, until the muffins are golden and a tester comes out clean. Let the muffins cool, as they're a bit fragile and need to set before being removed from the tin.

Makes 12 muffins.

Lemon-Glazed Blueberry Scones

I felt like baking on a recent Sunday morning, but wasn't quite sure what I wanted to make.

I didn't want anything too sweet, like cookies; and I didn't want to bake muffins (having made Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch muffins fairly recently).

What to do, what to do ...?

And then it came to me: scones! A perfect breakfast to eat on the front porch on the first sunny morning we'd had in maybe two weeks (after days of monsoons and flooding and tornado warnings).

I had blueberries just waiting patiently for this project, and they added a sweet/tart flavor -- not to mention gorgeous color! -- to my beautiful baked goods. A drizzle of lemon glaze was the ideal complement to the crumbly scone and the juicy fruit therein.

I baked, I waited kinda/sorta patiently for the scones to cool, I made a good strong cup of coffee, and I ate a lovely breakfast on the porch ... a perfect peaceful morning ... :)


Lemon-Glazed Blueberry Scones

2 cups unbleached flour
1/3 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
3/4 cup quick-cook oats
1/2 cup butter, in small pieces
3/4 cup blueberries
2/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a baking sheet.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, baking powder and oats. Using your fingers or a pastry cutter, mix in the butter until the mixture is crumbly. Gently stir in the blueberries, then stir in the buttermilk.

Knead the dough just until it holds together, then press it into an 8" circle on the prepared baking sheet. Score the dough into 8 portions, then bake for 30-35 minutes until the scones are golden and the center is set when lightly pressed. Carefully cut the scones apart, then let cool completely.

Stir together the confectioners' sugar and lemon juice to make a glaze, then drizzle it over each scone. Let the glaze set, then serve.

Makes 8 scones.

Jeremy's Favorite Scrambled Eggs

Jeremy spent the night at my new place on the Saturday before Mother's Day, as we had big plans to go thrift store shopping and to the University of Michigan baseball game that Sunday -- our celebratory tradition. (Unfortunately, they lost. But we had a fabulous time, and I even got my first sunburn of the season -- Spring finally arrived!) Thus, I had the opportunity to feed him breakfast when he woke up, which I haven't done in ages.

So, what did I make? One of his very favorites: Scrambled Eggs with Cheese.

Now, this is not a culinary masterpiece or a sophisticated dish in any way -- it just tastes good. And isn't that really all that matters???

Plain ol' eggs are okay, but they're pretty lacking in pizzazz. So I liven them up a bit with the cheese. And while other options are fine, I find the best choice is simply American cheese -- it melts beautifully and really complements the eggs well, retaining their comfort-food properties rather than trying to elevate them into something more chic.

This is quick and easy, and is a good way to start the day ... or to end it, if you -- like me! -- are a fan of "breakfast for dinner" ... :)

Scrambled Eggs with Cheese

1 tablespoon butter
6 eggs
splash of water
salt and pepper to taste
2 slices American cheese

Heat the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat; spread it around the pan. Whisk together the eggs, the water, the salt and the pepper; pour into the pan. Stir the eggs very frequently to keep them soft rather than firming up. When the eggs appear to be about half-cooked, add the cheese and break it up with the spoon. Keep stirring until the eggs are cooked and the cheese has melted into them.

Serves 2, if one of those 2 is a 20-year-old male. It would probably serve 4 people with lesser appetites.

Share Your Breakfast and Feed a Hungry Child

Quick post today, 'cause you've got a homework assignment to complete and I don't want to delay you. Don't worry -- it's ridiculously easy!

All you have to do is click on this link and tell Kellogg's what you had for breakfast (photo, description, or text) -- that's it!

And here's why you need to do this:

At Kellogg's, we believe in the power of breakfast and its ability to bring out the best in each day. And yet, one in four children live in food-insecure households, making breakfast hard to come by. So when you share your breakfast with us, we’ll (donate money to increase school breakfast participation). Our goal? To help share one million breakfasts by the start of the 2011–2012 school year .... $1 donated = 5 school breakfasts.

So go share all the details about what you ate, and be sure to do so each day. Send this to all your friends, post it on Facebook, tweet it, and use whatever other technological innovations there might be that I will likely only find out about once they're passé.

Because food is a basic human right. And it's just simply unconscionable that anyone -- particularly a child -- should go hungry ....

Savory Salmon Pancakes

My good friend Cindy (remember? -- her niece didn't have cake at her wedding, which sent me down a spiral of obsession!) gave me a lovely gift the other day to thank me for my help with some projects at work: The New York Times Passover Cookbook. A new cookbook!!! I cannot tell you how thrilled I was ... :)

So, of course, I immediately started to peruse it. I could easily have stopped everything else I was doing and just walked down the hall to the kitchen to make lunch for my co-workers with my new recipes!

But I was a good, responsible employee and waited 'til the next day to start my cooking. And the very first thing I made? A variation on the recipe featured on page 107: Mrs. Arnold Stein's Cottage Cheese Chremsele.

Chremsel ([KREM-suhl] -- ignore the spelling variations with or without an "e", as either is an acceptable transliteration) is a Yiddish word, meaning "a flat fried cake made with matzoth meal and filled usu. with prunes" (according to Merriam-Webster) ... essentially a pancake. I don't know who Mrs. Arnold Stein is/was, or why her chremslach ([KREMZ-lahk] - the plural) weren't filled with prunes. But the pancakes featured cottage cheese -- something I had in the refrigerator and was trying to use up -- so that pushed them to the top of my list.

I am not a creature of habit (OCD? -- oh, yeah; routine? -- no), and have grown exceedingly weary of eggs or cereal or toast or similar items for breakfast. I'm the kinda girl who'll re-heat spaghetti and meatballs in the morning if it's available, so being limited to kosher and vegetarian options has put a bit of a damper on my need for variety. No bacon, no sausage, no leftovers permitted to be brought home ... sigh.

Thus, an opportunity for something new and novel immediately perked up my morning.

The chremsele recipe called for separating the eggs and whipping the whites ... uh uh, not when I'm hungry after not having eaten since the night before! I also veered from the recipe by adding some salmon (and lox would have been sublime in these, if I'd had it) and a pinch of dill. Then I fried 'em up and served them with sour cream.

Oh, the decadence! The pancakes were rich and flavorful, and a fabulous option for a fast breakfast, brunch, light lunch/supper ... truly, a quick and easy recipe that will be made over and over again.

So thank you, Mrs. Stein, for inspiring my breakfast. And thank you again, Cindy, for your friendship and for the lovely, thoughtful gift which I adore ... :)

Savory Salmon Pancakes

2 eggs
1/4 cup cottage cheese
pinch of salt
generous sprinkling of lemon pepper
2 heaping tablespoons of matzah meal or flour
1/3 cup mashed, flaked salmon
2 tablespoons minced onion
1/8 teaspoon dill
1 tablespoon butter
sour cream, for serving

In a medium bowl, mix together the eggs, cottage cheese, salt and lemon pepper. Stir in the matzah meal, salmon, onion and dill.


Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Make 5 mounds with the batter, and cook 3 minutes per side until the pancakes are golden brown and don't wobble if you nudge them slightly with the spatula.



Serve hot, with sour cream.

Our First Anniversary

Tom and I corresponded for a long time before we finally met each other face-to-face; he first contacted me on November 20 of last year, after some intervention from our guardian angel -- his sister Anne. But we didn't officially meet until after Christmas, several weeks later. We had breakfast at The Broken Egg, a comfort-food breakfast/lunch restaurant of supreme excellence, on December 26, 2009 ... which means that this past Sunday was the first anniversary of our first date.

So, of course, we went back to The Broken Egg for breakfast!

Neither of us could decide what to eat last year, and ultimately went to opposite extremes: Tom ordered a huge plate of bacon, poached eggs, toast and fried potatoes which was too enormous to finish, and I ordered oatmeal with fat, juicy raisins after he mentioned it as we perused the menu and it just sounded good.

The menu is extensive, God help me, with everything from standard pancakes and waffles to 4-egg omelettes and specialty items. Sunday's features ranged from Elvis French Toast (the famous peanut butter and banana sandwich immersed in custard and fried 'til golden) to the Devil's Breakfast (eggs and vegetables with spicy chorizo and jalapenos). What is an indecisive girl like me to do???

Tom indulged in a repeat performance of last year's feast, as I debated the merits of the Peruvian Breakfast Stew featuring chicken and green olives. But knowing that the portions are huge, I vetoed this excellent-sounding dish; I can't bring fleishig ([FLAY-shig] = flesh, literally) to work because of Jewish dietary laws and the potential mixing of meat and dairy. Therefore the inevitable leftovers would have to stay at home, and we still had plenty of cinnamon rolls and fish pâté and deviled eggs and roast beast and potatoes and gravy and cookies and candies from Christmas. We didn't need to contribute further to that cause.

So I chose the Vegetarian Breakfast Stew, which isn't really a "stew" (but that doesn't matter because it's delicious): scrambled eggs sauteed with red peppers, zucchini, mushrooms, spinach, sweet caramelized onions, and hash browns. Oh, and both meals came with multi-grain toast, because stingy portions are not something The Broken Egg offers!

Tom ate everything but a few of his potatoes and the fattiest parts of the bacon (he's very conscientious about such things, always checking fat and sodium and sugar contents while I'm shoving anything into my mouth that tastes good!). I, on the other hand, despite a truly noble effort -- and anyone who knows me knows I'm an excellent eater who can consume far more than most people believe I can -- still had enough of the stew staring back at me to provide lunch for the next two days ... and we all know, I don't do stingy portions either!

So, here's to the first of many anniversaries, and to Tom's and my 2nd Annual December 26th Breakfast at The Broken Egg ... :)

Nearly Wordless Wednesday -- A Saturday Morning Treat

This is the perfect Saturday morning treat: huge cinnamon rolls from my favorite bakery ... :)

Decadent Delight
416 W. Huron Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48103
734-761-8740

By the way, owner and baker extraordinaire Bryant Stuckey is the one who recently made Hayden Panettiere's 21st birthday cake while she was here in town filming "Scream 4":

Read all about it here ... while eating a cinnamon roll ... :)